Wild Herbs with April

If you want to learn the medicinal and edible wild plants in season each month, and how to bring them into your kitchen, join the Wild Herb Academy Membership: https://www.wildherbacademy.com/learnwildherbs

Every mushroom you see is only the fruit. Beneath it lives an entire underground network holding the forest together. In this episode, recorded live at the Good Medicine Confluence in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I’m joined by Michael Wilson, forager, mycologist, and founder of Harmony Acres.

Michael shares the day a Reishi mushroom led him to it, and how fungi support the body’s own immune system. He also walks through his step-by-step approach to identifying Amanita muscaria and its relatives, and explains why he calls Amanita a slow burn relationship. That relationship opens only when you come with reverence, patience, and knowledge. You can watch this episode on Youtube!



👉 Amanita tinctures and oil infusions
Use the code WILDHERBS10 for 10% off your first order: https://www.harmonyacres.love/wildherbs



About the guest:
Michael Wilson is a forager, mycologist, and the founder of Harmony Acres in Pennsylvania. He has been foraging wild mushrooms since 2016, after years as an organic farmer, landscaper, and lifelong meditator. In 2021, a series of synchronicities led him to Amanita muscaria, and the healing he experienced turned his part-time passion into his life’s work. Today, Michael makes small-batch mushroom extractions and teaches about Amanita across the country, including at the Good Medicine Confluence.



Follow Michael Wilson:

Website: https://harmonyacres.love

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harmony_acres

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreOneInHarmony

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@myco_miguel



About the host:
Hi, I'm April Punsalan — a botanist, ethnobotanist, herbalist, and the founder of Wild Herb Academy, dedicated to teaching people how to heal with plants. I want you to heal yourself and your family with the wild herbs that grow beneath your feet.



Connect with April:

Website: https://www.wildherbacademy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildherbacademy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildHerbAcademy

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WildherbswithApril



Disclaimer:
This episode is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Some of the links listed above are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.



Thank you for listening! Make sure to follow the Wild Herbs Podcast so you can keep deepening your connection with wild plants and nature, within and without. Stay wild and stay human!

Learn to see the plants around you through the eyes of a botanist and herbalist, and discover their names, their medicine, and your connection to the land, in the free Backyard Pharmacy webinar: https://www.wildherbacademy.com/backyard-pharmacy



Perimenopause is often viewed as a time of hormonal decline, but Ayurveda offers a different perspective.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Shivani Gupta, an Ayurvedic practitioner, researcher, and author of The Inflammation Code, with over 20 years of experience studying and teaching Ayurvedic medicine.

Dr. Shivani and I had a beautiful conversation about the transition from Pitta to Vata during midlife, how declining estrogen influences inflammation and gut health, and her beautiful encouragement for women to embrace this new season of life.

We also explored the medicinal properties of turmeric, Ayurvedic herbs and spices for women's health, digestive fire (Agni), and the importance of grounding, slowing down, and creating daily rituals that nourish the body.

As two Pitta women, we shared our own experiences of learning to release the constant drive to do more and instead honor what our bodies need.

"Midlife is not the end of your power, it's the beginning of your awakening." – Dr. Shivani Gupta



Key Things You'll Learn:

00:00 - Teaser and intro

00:56 - Meet our guest, Dr. Shivani Gupta

01:57 - Midlife as the beginning of a woman's awakening

05:28 - At what age do women transition into the Vata stage of life?

10:15 - Perimenopause as a natural seasonal transition

11:12 - Spices for hormonal balance, burnout, and bloating

15:12 - How turmeric works on inflammatory pathways

18:25 - What makes Dr. Shivani's turmeric formulations different

23:37 - Ideal time during a woman's menstrual cycle to take turmeric

24:27 - Ayurvedic herbs and practices for gut microbiome and bloating

31:37 - Ayurvedic herbal teas for sleep, stress, and menopause

34:10 - Menopause and lifestyle differences across cultures

42:41 - What you'll learn from the book, The Inflammation Code

44:56 - How to work with Dr. Shivani



Discover your Ayurvedic Mind-Body Type (2-minute Quiz): https://shivanigreenliving.clickfunnels.com/elementaldesign

Use the code WILDHERBS for 15% off your first order: https://fusionaryformulas.com?sca_ref=12551077.GMbp5nuDRK3

Get Dr. Shivani's book, The Inflammation Code: https://www.amazon.com/dp/140199699X



Follow Dr. Shivani Gupta:

Website: https://shivanigupta.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.shivanigupta

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheShivaniGupta

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.shivanigupta



About the host:

Hi, I'm April Punsalan — a botanist, ethnobotanist, herbalist, and the founder of Wild Herb Academy, dedicated to teaching people how to heal with plants. I want you to heal yourself and your family with the wild herbs that grow beneath your feet.



Connect with April:

Website: https://www.wildherbacademy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildherbacademy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildHerbAcademy

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WildherbswithApril



Disclaimer:
This episode is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Some of the links listed above are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.



Thank you for listening! Make sure to follow the Wild Herbs Podcast so you can keep deepening your connection with wild plants and nature, within and without. Stay wild and stay human!

Learn to see the plants around you through the eyes of a botanist and herbalist, and discover their names, their medicine, and your connection to the land, in the free Backyard Pharmacy webinar: https://www.wildherbacademy.com/backyard-pharmacy



Who may not be a good fit for psilocybin therapy?

Today's guest is Dr. JJ Pursell, a board-certified naturopathic physician, licensed psilocybin facilitator, and bestselling author of Psilocybin Therapy and The Medicine from the Trees. JJ and I had a heartfelt, wide-ranging conversation about her path from a flower farm childhood and an herb shop apprenticeship to more than 30 years of working with psilocybin, why fear and the need for control come up so often around this medicine, and how she thinks about the spirit of the mushroom. We also talked about the mycelial web of life, the womb and grounding, and more.

"My role is simply to make sure that you feel safe throughout the whole entire experience." – Dr. JJ Pursell



Key Things You'll Learn:

00:00 - Teaser and intro

01:14 - Meet Dr. JJ Pursell

03:13 - JJ's path to psilocybin therapy

12:30 - How cultural messaging shapes views of psychedelics

18:46 - Working with fear before a session

24:05 - Severe trauma and energetic footprint from the body

25:06 - Psilocybin and addiction research

32:22 - The spirit of the mushroom

37:45 - The womb, lower chakras, and grounding

41:05 - Who may not be a good fit

43:44 - Family history of schizophrenia

44:37 - Ketamine as a possible stepping stone

47:12 - Thoughts on microdosing

51:38 - Inside the book Psilocybin Therapy

55:20 - How to work with Dr. Pursell



Disclaimer:

This episode is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please speak with a qualified healthcare provider before making any decisions about your health.



Dr. JJ Pursell's Website: https://drjjpursell.com

Get Dr. JJ Pursell's book, Psilocybin Therapy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDWK2BJ5



Follow Dr. JJ Pursell:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjjpursell2024

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drjjpursell

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jjpursellndlac

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.jjpursell6187



About the host:

Hi, I'm April Punsalan — a botanist, ethnobotanist, herbalist, and the founder of Wild Herb Academy, dedicated to teaching people how to heal with plants. I want you to heal yourself and your family with the wild herbs that grow beneath your feet.



Connect with April:

Website: https://www.wildherbacademy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildherbacademy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildHerbAcademy

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WildherbswithApril



Thank you for listening! Make sure to follow the Wild Herbs Podcast so you can keep deepening your connection with wild plants and nature, within and without. Stay wild and stay human!

Why Herbalists Need Medical Botany

You've done the training. You know your calendula, chamomile, echinacea, and goldenrod.

But the aster family alone holds 34,000 species.

In this episode, April shares why medical botany is the missing framework for trained herbalists. It was once the backbone of American healthcare, and today almost no one has heard of it.

In this episode:

How April found medical botany. Fieldwork with botanist Richard Porcher led her to Charleston's Waring Historical Library, where she found shelves of medical botany texts and MD dissertations on single plants and regional floras.

What medical botany actually is. It's the system doctors and eclectic physicians used in the 1700s and 1800s: classification, systematics, then medicine.

What Latin names reveal. Phytolacca americana is decoded, and she explains why "officinalis" tells you a plant earned its place in the official pharmacopeia.

The 4 out of 34,000 problem. Most herbalists work with a handful of asters while the native ones in their own yard go unknown.

Why botany comes first. A federally threatened plant, swamp pink (Helonias bullata), ended up printed as a medicinal herb in a bestselling foraging book.

The native asters in April's Charleston yard. She covers golden aster, sneezeweed, rabbit tobacco, and Bidens, and why Bidens is blooming while her echinacea struggles.

Taste as the teacher. Ayurveda and herbal energetics let you read any wild plant as bitter, salty, astringent, or sweet, through your own constitution.

Why this matters now. In April's words, "the most endangered thing right now is humans' connection to the land."

Plants mentioned:

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)

Calendula (Calendula officinalis)

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Swamp pink (Helonias bullata)

Golden aster (Heterotheca)

Sneezeweed (Helenium)

Rabbit tobacco (Pseudognaphalium)

Spanish needles (Bidens)

Blue curls (Trichostema)

Blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella)

Eastern horsemint (Monarda punctata)

Lamb's quarters, muscadine, and maypop

Resources mentioned:

Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests by Francis Peyre Porcher

Julia Morton's work on Lowcountry folk medicine

Waring Historical Library and its medicinal plant garden (MUSC, Charleston, SC)

Foraging Wild Herbs: 30 Healing Plants of the Carolina Coast by April Punsalan

Ready to learn the plants beneath your feet?

Enrollment for Medical Botany: Mastery of the Flowering Plant Medicines is Open

Enroll Now!

Know the land before the jar. 🌿



Follow and Subscribe to Be Notified When the Next Podcast Releases

I'll be sharing the most important things I've learned over nearly 30 years of studying herbalism and botany. If you're ready to stop mail-ordering herbs from distant lands and start connecting deeply with the plant kingdom, especially the wild ones, this free training is for you. Register below, and I hope to see you there!

📅 September 16th, 2026, at 12PM ET
👉 https://www.wildherbacademy.com/masterclass



What role can herbal medicine play in helping us reduce our risk of cancer and support the body when a cancer diagnosis occurs?

In this episode, I sit down with medical herbalist and holistic oncology expert Chanchal Cabrera to explore what she has learned from more than 40 years in clinical practice.

We talk about:

Her #1 tip for breast cancer prevention

Why she never puts patients "on a diet"

Her study on women living well with breast cancer

Phytoestrogenic herbs

Her thoughts on period-tracking apps

The real story behind wild yam

Her daily herb ally

Chanchal also shares the research that changed her perspective on herbal medicine and cancer after studying women living well with breast cancer for more than 10 years, and why she believes the best path forward is collaborative care that brings herbal medicine and conventional oncology together.



About the guest:

Chanchal Cabrera is a medical herbalist, in clinical practice since 1987 with a specialty in holistic oncology since 2004. Chanchal is also a certified Shinrin-Yoku (forest bathing) practitioner, a certified Master Gardener and a certified Horticulture Therapist. Chanchal lives on Vancouver Island, British Columbia where she and her husband manage Innisfree Farm and Botanic Garden, a 7-acre internationally registered botanic garden specializing in food and medicine.

She is also the author of the book “Holistic Cancer Care: An Herbal Approach to Preventing Cancer, Helping Patients Thrive during Treatment, and Minimizing the Risk of Recurrence”. She held the faculty chair in Botanical Medicine at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine in New Westminster 2004-2016, and she publishes widely in professional journals and lectures internationally on medical herbalism, nutrition and health.



Get Chanchal's books:

Holistic Cancer Care (signed copy): https://chanchalcabrera.com/product/holistic-cancer-care

Fibromyalgia: A Journey Toward Healing (e-book): https://chanchalcabrera.com/product/fibromyalgia-a-journey-toward-healing



Connect with Chanchal:

Website: https://chanchalcabrera.com

Chanchal's Botanical Garden: https://www.innisfreefarm.ca

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chanchal.cabrera

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chanchal.cabrera

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@chanchal.cabrera



About the host:
Hi, I'm April Punsalan — a botanist, ethnobotanist, herbalist, and the founder of Wild Herb Academy, dedicated to teaching people how to heal with plants. I want you to heal yourself and your family with the wild herbs that grow beneath your feet.



Connect with April:

Website: https://www.wildherbacademy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildherbacademy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildHerbAcademy

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WildherbswithApril



Rate, review, and subscribe:
Bring the wisdom of wild plants with you. Listen to Wild Herbs with April on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. If you loved this episode, please leave us a review and, most importantly, share it with someone who's walking this journey with cancer.

🌲 Stay WILD. Stay human. And remember—you are nature.

With love,
April Punsalan

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Disclaimer: The information shared in this episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition, and should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your health routine, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medications, or managing a medical condition.